Bayern Munich Sack Head Coach Carlo Ancelotti

Managing in European soccer comes with all sorts of expectations, and it’s an incredibly hard business. Carlo Ancelotti is no stranger to what it takes to succeed in this field, though even he had to have been surprised to learn that Bayern Munich has decided to fire him. Ancelotti was formally dismissed as the team’s head coach on Thursday.

Bayern was embarrassingly throttled 3-0 by Paris St. Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, and the club’s brass decided it was time to find a new man to patrol the sidelines. It marked the Bundesliga side’s biggest Champions League group stage defeat in 21 years.

Statement and Interim Replacement

The team’s CEO, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, said after the loss that there would be consequences for the team’s shortcomings. The team held a meeting to discuss Ancelotti’s future on Thursday, and they ultimately came to the decision that it would be best to fire the Italian.

The team announced that assistant Willy Sagnol will take over for Ancelotti on an interim basis. Sagnol will get his first chance to manage Bayern on Sunday when the team pays a visit to Hertha Berlin in Bundesliga play. The defending champions currently sit third in the league after a 4-1-1 start through their first six matches of the new campaign.

Bayern has already allowed more goals through their first 10 total games this season than they did in the first 10 games of the last two seasons combined. Bayern has also won just 11 of their last 21 matches overall, dating back to April. In a statement, Rummenigge said, “The team’s performances since the start of the season have not matched with the expectations that we set. The game in Paris showed clearly that we had to take action.”

The team is expected to hold a press conference regarding the coaching change on Friday afternoon.

Potential Replacement Candidates

While Sagnol may have the chance to nab the job on a full-time basis, most expect Bayern to look outside the squad for Ancelotti’s ultimate replacement. Former Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel has already had his name floated out there as a candidate, while Hoffenheim’s 30-year-old coaching wunderkind Julian Nagelsmann is another possibility.

Ancelotti was tabbed as the replacement to Pep Guardiola, who left Bayern to take the job at Manchester City following the 2015 season. Ancelotti led Bayern to a Bundesliga title in his lone full campaign patrolling the sidelines, but the team failed to get past the quarterfinals in last season’s Champions League after being knocked out by Real Madrid. Bayern was also knocked out of the DFB Pokal in the semifinals by Dortmund.

Ancelotti is not the only member of the staff that is leaving. Assistants Davide Ancelotti, Francesco Mauri, Mino Fulco and Giovanni Mauri have also left the club.